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Use the Compare VI Hierarchies window, available in the LabVIEW Professional Development System, to compare two hierarchies of VIs. LabVIEW compares any file with the same name in both hierarchies and categorizes them as being the same or different. VIs and subVIs with the same name and path are considered shared VIs. All other VIs are categorized as added or deleted from the first VI hierarchy. After the comparison completes, the Compare VI Hierarchies window displays a summary of the differences. The VIs in Hierarchies listbox displays the VIs and a symbol that indicates how they are categorized. You can select a set of VIs that have differences and visually compare them using the Compare VIs dialog box.

Because LabVIEW cannot compare two files with the same name, LabVIEW renames one of the VIs for comparison. The first VI is left as is, and the second VI is moved to the temporary directory and prepended with a cmp. prefix. Because LabVIEW does not rename the subVIs, the renamed VI links to the subVIs loaded by the first VI.

Complete the following steps to compare two hierarchies of VIs.

1. Select Tools»Compare»Compare VI Hierarchies from the front panel or block diagram menu of a VI to display the Compare VI Hierarchies window.
2. Click the Browse Files buttons to display a file dialog box that you can use to navigate to and select VIs from the file system to compare. Click the Browse Memory buttons to display the Select a VI dialog box, which you can use to select a VI from the VIs in memory to compare.
3. In the Compare section of the Compare VI Hierarchies window, place checkmarks in the checkboxes of the comparison options you want to include.
4. Click the Compare Hierarchies button to compare VIs in the hierarchies. The results of the comparison appear in the VIs in Hierarchies and Description listboxes.
5. Click a VI in the VIs in Hierarchies listbox to display a description of the hierarchical differences in the Description listbox.
6. Double-click a VI in the VIs in Hierarchies listbox to open the VIs in the two hierarchies and view the differences. You also can click the Show Differences button.
7. Click the Done button to close the Compare VI Hierarchies window.

You can click the Read Hierarchies button to categorize the VIs in the hierarchy. VIs that need to be compared are categorized as not compared. You can selectively compare individual VIs by double-clicking an item or clicking the Show Differences button.

Press the <Ctrl-.> keys to abort comparisons of large VI hierarchies.